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What Alex de Minaur once claimed the Australian Open were getting all wrong for Australian players

Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
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Alex de Minaur has enjoyed a fantastic career on the ATP Tour, with further success now on the cards in 2026.

De Minaur is ranked sixth in the world, which represents a career-high for the 26-year-old Australian ATP star.

Playing in front of his own fans, De Minaur is impressing at the United Cup at this moment, where he is representing Australia in Sydney.

Fittingly, it was indeed in that city where he won his first-ever ATP title, beating Andreas Seppi in the final of the 2019 Sydney International.


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Alex de Minaur quotes
(Getty Images)

Alex de Minaur once claimed the Australian Open were punishing Australian players

Remarkably, De Minaur was forced to play his semifinal and final on the same day after rain cancelled the former.

Sharing his thoughts on the situation at the time, he said: “Well, it’s things that happen. I think what’s more annoying is me having to play on Monday at the Australian Open and not getting helped out as a fellow Aussie at your pretty much home slam.

“I think they’re punishing Aussies for playing deep in their home tournaments, and I think that should not be what they should be doing.”

And when asked if he put a request in to have it delayed, he said: “Yeah. I mean, they came out with the schedule before they even saw who was in the final in weeks past. So I think that’s pretty poor.

“But, you know, I’m still here. I’ve got a final now. I’ve got to reset and do everything I can here and we will see what happens.”

Alex de Minaur celebrates after beating Jakub Mensik at the 2026 United Cup
Photo by Andy Cheung/Getty Images

Alex de Minaur was overjoyed at his first ATP title in Sydney

De Minaur had just five hours between his Sydney semifinal and final in 2019, having lost the final of the 2018 event to Daniil Medvedev.

Sharing his delight after lifting the trophy, he said: “Oh, it’s surreal. I couldn’t think of a better place to get my first win. You know, it’s been tough, because I have played a couple of finals and things haven’t gone my way.

“And to finally be able to take that step further and get my first win, it’s something that’s really special in front of friends and family and in the courts I grew up. You know, that’s definitely memories that are going to last forever.”

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The Norman Brookes Challenge Cup and the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup are seen during a media opportunity ahead of the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park.
Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images

But as he mentioned, there was very little time to celebrate, with De Minaur flying to Melbourne the following day, to start his Australian Open the day after that.

However, he battled past Pedro Sousa in his opening match, and did the same against Henri Laaksonen in round two.

But getting past legendary figure Rafael Nadal proved a step too far in the third round, with the Spaniard going on to finish runner-up to Novak Djokovic.